Don’t forget about Mom

This Sunday is Cinco de Mayo, an annual celebration held on May 5. It has gained popularity in certain social circles, much to the same degree as St. Patrick’s Day. Cinco de Mayo celebrates with margaritas while St. Patrick’s Day celebrates with beer.

Monday, May 6, is National Nurses Day and Nurses Appreciation Week is from May 6-12. An appropriate acknowledgement would be a thank you card or letter of appreciation to your favorite nurse.

Next week is Mother’s Day. I phrase it as a week because that’s how florists view the holiday. Since everyone has a mother and the holiday falls on Sunday we florists are as busy as bees delivering flowers throughout the entire week, because it takes more than one day to provide fresh bouquets to all the moms in the area.

These holidays are side-by-side on the calendar and I noticed a real correlation between being a mother and being a nurse. However, aside from possibly needing a margarita as a stress reliever I couldn’t connect Cinco de Mayo with Nurses Day and Mother’s Day.

Being a mother is more than biology. Some mothers have additional descriptive tags such as step, foster, surrogate, or in-laws. Being a mother is the maternal role of parenthood in which she makes countless sacrifices to be sure her children are equipped with knowledge, skills and abilities to make them competent and productive human beings. A mother is a protector, nurturer, disciplinarian, teacher and friend. She is a selfless and loving human, putting the needs and wants of her children ahead of herself.

As children we did not recognize all the sacrifices our mothers made on our behalf, but once we left the nest we soon discovered that no one will ever love us like our mother did. This truth may have been the cruelest discovery we endured as adults.

Our mothers love us despite our flaws and worry about our health and well-being no matter our age and that’s where the nursing similarities come into play.

When we are sick we desire our mother’s love; she calmed our fears and comforted us with her care and concern. The only person who comes close to filling our Mom’s shoes when we are ill is a nurse. We desire the traits of a nurse to be caring, compassionate, comforting, encouraging, gentle, sympathetic, kind, helpful, attentive, patient and devoted…in other words, we want our Mommy!

When we are ailing we expect a high degree of attention from medical professionals. It has been my experience that nurses meet or exceed my expectations, which may be why they are sometimes referred to as an angel of mercy. Nurses care about people, therefore even in retirement once a nurse, always a nurse. A nurse is one who opens the eyes of a newborn and gently closes the eyes of a dying man. It is indeed a high blessing to be the first and last to witness the beginning and the end of life.

This might be the reason William Osler stated, “The trained nurse has become one of the greatest blessings of humanity, taking a place beside the physician and priest.”

Nurses are the unsung heroes in the medical field. Being a nurse, like being a Mom is not a job, it’s who they are and we owe them our gratitude and respect.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Tuesday, May , is the Ohio Primary Election Day. Ohio has a nice website to help you find the necessary information about the candidates, the election calendar, absentee voting, and election results at https://www.sos.state.oh.us/ Versailles has a one-half percent income tax levy renewal on the ballot.

Kathy Magoto is a volunteer citizen columnist, who serves The Daily Advocate readers weekly with her Friday Versailles community column. She can be reached at magmon1@embarqmail.com or at 526-3798. Feel free to contact her with Versailles news and tidbits. Viewpoints expressed in the article are the work of the author. The Daily Advocate does not endorse these viewpoints or the independent activities of the author.

Kathy Magoto is a volunteer citizen columnist, who serves The Daily Advocate readers weekly with her Friday Versailles community column. She can be reached at magmon1@embarqmail.com or at 526-3798. Feel free to contact her with Versailles news and tidbits. Viewpoints expressed in the article are the work of the author. The Daily Advocate does not endorse these viewpoints or the independent activities of the author.